Initial reports said that 15 vehicles were involved in collisions on both sides of the dual carriageway.

PSNI officers were tasked to the scene from the Local Policing Team, Neighbourhood Policing Team, Roads Policing and Motorway crews from Larne, Ballymena, Carrickfergus, Newtownabbey and Antrim.

A spokesperson for PSNi Larne said: “There were reports of multiple road traffic accidents in the area. The first report was 15 vehicle damage only, just as crews were arriving to this there was reports of 11 vehicles involved in an injury collision.

“Thankfully, the numbers involved were not quite that high and there are no serious injuries, but there was still a lot of vehicles involved and a big police response to deal with it. On top of this we had a couple of other accidents on a smaller scale.

“It was a massive effort by all to get the roads open and traffic moving again. While all this was going on we were also trying to keep going with our normal calls for service which included two ongoing domestic incidents and a missing person.

“Please take the opportunity to check your cars are winter ready. Check your tyres, lights, wipers and screen wash. Also keep in mind that days are shorter and the temperature are dropping so adjust your driving conditions accordingly.”